The Polk County man accused of killing his daughter and the child's mother in 2009 has been found guilty.
Lester Ross was found guilty of first degree murder in the death of Ronkeya Holmes, 29, and of aggravated manslaughter of a child in the death of their daughter, 3-year-old Masarah Ross.
Holmes and her daughter were reported missing in 2009. Their bodies were found in a shallow grave in an orange grove near Winter Haven three days before Christmas 2010.
The leading suspect in the investigation was Ross, Masarah's dad, who was held without bond since 2010 for witness tampering.
Investigators say Lester Ross hid his daughter's body in a freezer after she died in his care in May 2009. When Ronkeya Holmes came looking for her daughter in October 2009, police say Ross poisoned her, then buried both bodies.
It took almost two years for investigators to positively identify the bodies, although police unofficially identified the bodies shortly after they were dug up.
Also, Ross was found not guilty of tampering with physical evidence and not guilty of witness tampering in court Thursday in Bartow.
The bodies of Ronkeya Holmes and Masarah Ross were found buried in a shallow grave in a Winter Haven orange grove in December 2010.